Current office type chairs are becoming more and more sophisticated in respect of the different adjustments that can be made to these types of chairs. For example both the chair back and the chair seat of an office chair may be adjustable to a number of different settings, heights and tilt angles. Typically each of these settings is adjusted by an individual chair control specific to each setting. Most of the chair controls are generally located below the chair seat.
Moreover many such office chairs can be tailor made for specific individuals. Generally such chairs will have different components which include different types and styles of casters, legs, pedestals, seats, firmness of the cushion in the seat, different types of chair backs, different chair adjustment means, different seat adjustment means, different height adjustment means, as well as different arms, headrests and adjustment of headrest to name just a few of the components. Accordingly individuals can select from these different components to assemble their chairs that are unique to them.
One of the drawbacks in the prior art chairs and particularly chairs which have been custom assembled relates to information about the different components in the chair as well as the adjustment means and controls that activate the adjustment means which are generally located under the seat of a chair.
Also it is not unusual for these chairs to be moved from one location to the other so that another individual may be using the chair that has been custom made for a specific individual, and be unfamiliar with the use of the controls or the chair adjustment means. Accordingly there is a need for an information system on the use of the components of the chairs and the like.
Furthermore office chairs would generally be located in front of a desk and in most cases have a computer screen, computer keyboard or the like on the desk. Many offices utilize a keyboard tray which can be located under the desk, on top of the desk, or attached to the pedestal of a computer screen, or a variety of other locations. Many of these keyboard trays include a number of components such as keyboard tray tilt adjustment, keyboard arm extension means, keyboard height adjustment means, and the like. Accordingly these articulating or adjustment functions can be made easier if there is some device which can impart information on the use of the keyboard tray and how to adjust it.
There is also a need for a device to impart information not only on the use of a keyboard tray but generally the chair that sits in front of the keyboard tray and a computer screen and the like. As stated before it is not unusual for chairs to be moved from one location to another and therefore it would be ideal if the device imparting the information would be able to automatically identify the different chair and the different components of the chair and impart the information to a person sitting in the chair. Moreover some chairs may be assembled and disassembled and then reassembled with different components. It would be ideal if the device imparting the information could automatically identify the different components and automatically display information concerning the different components of the chair and keyboard tray presented before it.
There have been a number of prior art chairs and keyboard tray devices which have addressed some of these issues.
For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,923,502 discloses a chair with switch controls for chair controlled directory. Moreover U.S. Pat. No. 7,378,978 teaches a chair or bed member having data storage of information regarding the chair or bed member. The chair or bed member further has a sensor which senses physical movement by a person using the chair or bed member to produce an output of the information from the data storage.
US2009/0295733A1 shows an ergonomic keyboard system components and method.
The prior art also teaches the use of radio frequency identification devices (RFID). For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,370B1 teaches smart furniture that automatically adjusts to a person's preferences based on an identification of the person. A person is equipped with an identification device such as a radio frequency identification device. The smart furniture includes a reader for the identification device to identify a person using the piece of furniture. The smart furniture may also include storage in which seating profiles of users are stored. The smart furniture may then receive a profile that matches the person using the furniture and sets adjustable features according to the profile. Seating profiles may be uploaded or downloaded from a remote storage using a wireless communication interface such as a wireless network interface.
Furthermore U.S. Pat. No. 7,557,703B2 teaches a position management system which includes two or more types of detection tags provided to objects whose positions are to be detected, detectors provided corresponding to the detection tags, and a position data processor in which the detection tags complement detection abilities for each other, in which a detection receives a signal from a detection tag provided to an object.
Apparatus and method for using RFID to track the use of a component within a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,498,950B1.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,626,505 relates to RF tags for tracking and locating travel bags while U.S. 2009/0072977A1 teaches a method and system of asset identification and tracking for enterprise asset management. Finally U.S. 2008/0204248A1 shows a RFID tag management and operation.
It is an aspect of this invention to provide a method of displaying information concerning components of a chair or keyboard tray comprising: placing at least one RFID tag on a component of the chair or keyboard tray; reading the presence of the RFID; and activating a device to display instructions concerning the component. This information can be either text or audio information or video information, with or without audio information or instruction.
It is a further aspect of this invention to provide for a keyboard tray comprising: a video device for displaying a video clip concerning: a chair having components selected from the group including fabric, pedestal, legs, casters, height adjustment means, seat adjustment means, back adjustment means, headrest, headrest adjustment means, arms, and arm adjustment means; and/or the keyboard tray having components selected from the group of keyboard tray tilt angle adjustment means, keyboard height adjustment means, keyboard arm adjustment means, keyboard tray distance adjustment means, and
a component identification means associated with the components to permit activation of the video device so as to display the video clip on the component of the chair and keyboard tray.
A still further aspect of this invention relates to a device for displaying information concerning a part; the video device reading a component identification means associated with the part to permit activation of the device so as to display information concerning the part. This information can be either text or audio information or video information, with or without audio information or instruction. The device in one embodiment is a video device.
Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a method of displaying information concerning the assembly of a part having a plurality of different models, where each model includes a plurality of components, and where each model has at least one component with at least one RFID tag and associated information concerning said model, reading the at least one RFID associated with at least one component of the model and, a video device associated with the means to read the at least one RFID associated with the model for displaying information concerning the assembly of the components to assemble the model of the part.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved video device for displaying information concerning a part. It is also an object of this invention to provide a method of displaying information on the use of components of a chair or keyboard tray. These and other objects and features of the invention shall now be described in relation to the following drawings.